Category Archives: poetry
Latin American Lit
Exciting news! Next spring, I’ll be teaching a new senior elective at my school, called “20th Century Latin American Literature.” Here’s the description I wrote when proposing it: Torrid sonnets of love, magically realistic epics, post-modern murder mysteries: all of these and more comprise what we call Latin American literature. As the world becomes increasingly …
Writing Goals: Jumpstart Edition
One technique that works for me in goal-setting is making sure I have some concrete tasks to check off as I make progress, in addition to larger conceptual themes. In keeping with my writing jumpstart program, here are my specific writing goals for 2012: prioritize regular writing time join and regularly participate in and attend …
Jumpstarting My Writing
As important as writing is to me, and as central as it is to my identity and conception of myself, when something has to drop from my daily juggling act, too often, it’s writing. So for 2012, I’m determined to jumpstart my trajectory as a writer and poet. This is a broader goal, not a …
2011: Year In Review
As 2011 draws to a close, I look over the year and see where I’ve been and how it affected me; getting to review my year this way is one of the reasons I keep blogging. The opportunity to reflect is so important to me, and blogging is one of my major tools to keep …
The Light Ekphrastic
Discovering my voice as a poet is an ongoing evolution for me, but in recent years, one aspect of my poetic practice that has become more and more clear is that I am often and fruitfully inspired by the works of other literary and visual artists. I’ve so enjoyed ekphrastic work and have felt such …
Poetry Every Day
I know, I can’t stop posting about poetry lately! One of the effects of my March Madness tournament that I didn’t expect was how much I would enjoy hearing a poem read every day at the beginning of class. It was simple and brief: a student read the poem, they took a quiet minute to …
Daybreak in Alabama
In light of the recent horrific tornadoes in the American South, especially Alabama, I was touched to find Langston Hughes’ “Daybreak in Alabama” in my inbox today from my Knopf poem-a-day emails, which I will sorely miss when April ends tomorrow. I have a fair amount of family in the Birmingham area, and luckily, they …
We Are the Champions
With over 50% of the vote, “Still I Rise” triumphed over “Funeral Blues” and “Mid-Term Break” in my first annual March Madness Poetry Tournament! I have to say, I’m surprised at the results. Sure, I had pegged “Still I Rise” to be a serious contender, but I truly did not expect two such sad poems …
Acceptance
Since it seems like a time for jubilation and acceptances in the blogosphere, I’m thrilled to be able to make my own “Woohoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!” post. Not only did I gain acceptance to my first-choice NEH workshop, but I also had one of my menu poems accepted! I have to say, that in the cruelest month, these …
Poetry Madness Updates
As my brackets progress, things are getting more interesting. In my original pairings, I tried to connect the poems I was matching up against each other, either thematically, by author, or even by a repeated element. So two Neruda odes went up against each other, Ode to Tomatoes and Ode to My Socks, and “Tomatoes” …
BackTalk